Photo by Steven Ross.
Talia Pepke
Talia Pepke’s latest role was Deirdre McDavey in I Hate Hamlet, which was directed by her high school director Roy Hudson.
Talia Pepke didn’t choose theatre — she was tricked into it.
She was a freshman, only 14, and it was the first day of school at Shades Valley High in 2001. When she missed the bus home, she unknowingly walked into auditions taking place in the theatre.
“I walked in and realized there were people on stage, and he (Roy Hudson) was like ‘What do you want?’” Talia laughed. “I was like ‘I’m lost. I need to call my mom. Can you tell me where the phone is?’ He said, ‘I’ll tell you where the phone is if you audition.’”
Hudson, now the artistic director at the Virginia Samford Theatre, roped Pepke into auditioning for The Miracle Worker. It was her first show, and he was her first director.
“He was a mentor to me,” Pepke said. “He helped me choose — I ended up pursing theatre in college. While I was really passionate about the arts, and I loved performing, I needed a little bit more.”
She worked some odd jobs until she ended up at the Virginia Samford Theatre. Pepke was hired on as the marketing and event manager, and she was eventually joined by Hudson when the Virginia Samford hired him as the artistic director about a year ago.
“I tell everyone that our relationship is pretty much exactly the same except now I win half of the arguments,” Pepke said.
As the marketing and event manager, Pepke said she has a marketing plan for all the emails, digital marketing, ad plans and social media posts to promote the shows. The perk of her job: she has the flexibility in her schedule to audition for shows.
In her last performance, Pepke played Deirdre McDavey in I Hate Hamlet under her old director Hudson, but she said it can sometimes be difficult to wear both the marketing and acting hat.
“I’m still kind of finding a balance,” Pepke said. “Usually when we have a production, I’m also running the house, I’m in the lobby and I’m working with patrons who are there. I can’t do that when I am backstage preparing for a show. Fortunately, I have the best substitute ever, and I rope my husband into coming back in.”
When she is in a show, Pepke said she really sets aside her marketing side to focus on just being an actress. She knows when she is at rehearsal, she is there to work the script with the rest of the cast, and she said it helps that she is able to work with other professional people.
Being involved in both sides of the theatre is actually helpful for Pepke as well. She said being in a show gives her better insight on how market it because she knows the show backward and forward. That makes it easier than when she steps into a musical halfway through the process in order to figure out how to promote it.
Her next role: Lucy in Dracula.
“I love the musicals, but I’m not a singer or a dancer,” Pepke said. “Straight theatre has always been my comfort zone. I was really excited about auditioning for Dracula because most of the training that I received, when I really was actively pursuing acting and theatre, was dramatic work. I was always cast as the girl who was very dramatic.”
She said her upcoming role is really going to give her the opportunity to practice what she studied, and she is excited to see this darker, more dramatic show at the Virginia Samford in time for Halloween.
Talia Pepke will be appearing in the Virginia Samford Theatre’s upcoming production of Dracula, which will be showing from Oct. 30 to Nov. 9. For more information, call 251-1206 or visit virginiasamfordtheatre.org.
